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NEW YORK -- For Steve Bannon, the way to create an enduring populist majority is to combine forces on the left and right. That's why he was in Italy earlier this year, where parties representing those two sides joined together in a governing alliance. That's why Bannon hopes to wean some of Bernie Sanders' supporters away from the Democratic ...Read more

NEW YORK -- The death of George H.W. Bush has occasioned a fair amount of nostalgia for the old American establishment, of which Bush was undoubtedly a prominent member. It has also provoked a heated debate among commentators about that establishment, whose membership was determined largely by bloodlines and connections. You had to be a white ...Read more

NEW YORK -- The G-20 summit in Argentina is taking place at a moment when the United States still stands at the center of the world. The U.S. economy is booming, the dollar is almighty, American technology companies continue to dominate the new digital economy, and the U.S. military remains the unrivaled master of land, sky and sea. But there ...Read more

NEW YORK -- It's easy to get distracted by the circus of the Trump presidency. But what is its larger effect? For an answer to that question, take a look at three gatherings this week on the other side of the planet.

Attended by all the major Asian countries, the ASEAN and East Asia summits in Singapore and the APEC conference in Papua New ...Read more

PARIS --When confronting bad news these days, many tend to assume that it's just a bump on the road and that things will work out. President Obama was fond of invoking Martin Luther King's assertion that "the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice." Yet could we be wrong in assuming that, in spite of some backsliding here...Read more

NEW YORK -- It is commonplace to hear and read about President Trump's takeover of the Republican Party. And certainly there is lots of evidence that the GOP is animated these days by an unquestioning devotion to Trump and whatever his ideas may be at any given moment. But the problem is that Republicans are now becoming the party not of Trump ...Read more

NEW YORK -- For those who believe that Donald Trump is a clownish know-nothing who somehow tapped into the mood of the electorate or just got lucky in 2016, the last month has been instructive. Trump has demonstrated uncanny political instincts. When combined with his ruthless "amorality" -- a term used by one of his own senior officials in an ...Read more

NEW YORK -- The apparent murder of Jamal Khashoggi tells us something important about Saudi Arabia. But it also tells us something important about America.

First Saudi Arabia. As has been often noted, Jamal Khashoggi used to be part of the Saudi establishment. Although not a member of the House of Saud, he was well-born and well-connected. He ...Read more

NEW YORK -- The Trump administration's most significant and lasting decisions will be about U.S. policy toward China. Far more consequential than even the Supreme Court's composition or immigration policy is whether the 21st century will be marked by conflict or cooperation between the two most prosperous and powerful countries on the planet. ...Read more

NEW YORK -- The most consequential casualty of the recent confirmation battle is not Christine Blasey Ford or Brett Kavanaugh. It is the Supreme Court and, thus, American democracy. The court was one of the last bastions in Washington that towered above the political fray. It is now part of the dysfunction that has overwhelmed almost the entire ...Read more

NEW YORK -- President Trump's speech on Tuesday at the United Nations was an intelligent -- at times eloquent -- presentation of his "America First" worldview. He laid out an approach of pursuing narrow self-interest over broader global ones and privileging unilateral action over multilateral cooperation. But Trump might not recognize that as he...Read more

NEW YORK -- When confronting a challenging problem, it's sometimes useful to listen to someone who looks at it from an entirely different angle. That's why I found it fascinating to talk about the rise of populism and nativism with Bono last weekend at a summit in Kiev. The Irish singer-activist-philanthropist sees the same forces that we all do...Read more

NEW YORK -- For several years now, scholars have argued that the world is experiencing a "democratic recession." They have noted that the movement of countries toward democracy has slowed or stopped and even, in some places, reversed. They also note a general hollowing out of democracy in the advanced, industrial world. When we think about this ...Read more

NEW YORK -- For those few people left who still believe Donald Trump is unconventional but canny, that there is a method to the madness, the revelations of this week should clarify. Bob Woodward's new book and The New York Times op-ed written by an anonymous official make plain that behind Trump's ranting, impulsive, incoherent and narcissistic ...Read more